1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to devices and methods used for retracting organs and/or body tissue during surgical procedures and, more particularly, to an endoscopic apparatus and methods for retracting or positioning organs and/or body tissue during minimally invasive surgery.
2. Background of Related Art
As a result of the recent technological improvements in surgical instruments, surgical procedures, using minimally invasive techniques, are routinely performed which surgical procedures cause less trauma to the patient. Some minimally invasive surgical procedures have limitations due to the small internal diameter of many commonly used cannulas of trocar systems. As a result, instrument manufacturers must come up with innovative and novel solutions for using many common instruments such as organ retractors and tissue retrieval bags which utilize deformable frame openings to fit through the trocar and into the patient. In fact, some organ retractors and tissue retrieval bags use inflatable frames which form components for manipulating tissue. An exemplary inflatable organ retraction device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,945 to Moll, et al., the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As a result thereof, additional systems for pressurizing the inflatable frames are needed. As can be appreciated, inflatable tissue retrieval instruments tend to be vulnerable to accidental deflation in the operating theater and are unnecessarily dependent upon the rigidity of the inflatable structure to support the organ and/or contain the tissue as it is manipulated. Moreover, inflatable type instruments tend to be more complex and costly than corresponding non-inflatable instruments.
Other tissue expanders or retractors are collapsible and can be passed intra-luminally. Such retractors have taken the form of radial fingers which are activatable to extend relative to each other upon entering the body cavity. Exemplary retractors of this type are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,195,505, 5,199,419, 5,381,788 and 5,554,101, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Another collapsible retractor structure includes a pair of collapsible fingers joined by a web of resilient material which, upon exposure from a cannula, can expand to form a retractive structure, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,042, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
A need exists for an improved endoscopic organ retractor for passage through reduced diameter cannulas of trocar systems and which are deployable to at least one expanded condition for retracting body organs and tissue.